Through September and October, the Utah Humanities Book Festival is celebrating books throughout Utah and hosting events statewide. According to their website, the organization is entering it’s 22nd year of “improving Utah communities through reading, literature, and conversations with authors and each other.” This organization focuses on local humanity ideas as well as education, literature and heritage. Their mission is to “empower Utahns to improve their communities through active engagement in the humanities.”
The reason that Humanities are important is because they offer perspective and insight while allowing us to connect to others and better ourselves. Without the Humanities, life would be colorless and bland, and Utah Humanities recognizes this.
Held in the Southern Utah Museum of Art on Tuesday, Sep. 17 at 7 p.m., Dan O’Brien will begin the event by focusing on the genre of Drama With Sugar House Review helping to host the event, O’Brien will be discussing his book The House in Scarsdale: A Memoir for the Stage. As a playwright and poet, he will offer insightful advice to theater students and readers alike.
As another portion of the festival, a Creative Writing and Education conference will be held Thursday, Sep. 19 at 10 a.m. The conference will focus on Eco-Poetry and the Essay, and the schedule can be found here. For more questions regarding the conference, contact director Danielle Dubrasky at dubrasky@suu.edu.
Also on Sep. 19, sculptor Al Farrow will be in the Great Hall at 11:30 a.m. Farrow’s art exhibit is on display at SUMA through Oct. 5. Later in the evening, poets Kate Northrop and Christopher Cokinos will be discussing their literary nonfiction books Things are Disappearing Here and Hope is a Thing with Feathers at 4 p.m.
Participating in the Utah Humanities Book Festival isn’t just for book nerds. It is a great place for those who are looking for something new to learn and ponder. It’s a wonderful opportunity to expand your horizons, so participate while you can. For more events, visit the Utah Humanities calendar here.
Story by: Elizabeth Armstrong
accent@suunews.net
Photos by: Utah Humanities
